Twelve Traditions

The twelve traditions are the rules by which all twelve-step programs are run. My Survivors of Incest Anonymous meeting, for one, says that "we are a program of twelve suggested steps and twelve traditions." I always used to think that that was an error of grammar. Surely it should say suggested for both of them?

But with time I realized that there was nothing suggested about it. Individual people can choose to work or not work the steps, but if a meeting or program doesn't stick with the traditions it is pretty much screwed. The paramount idea running through the traditions is one of principles before personalities: being able to make decisions and keep a meeting or program going without getting all caught up in interpersonal dynamics and bickering and people's heavy emotional drama.

The traditions read as follows, with some slight variation in wording between programs and over time: